


If you're reading this...

by AliceNightmary



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Cussing, Future, Love Story, M/M, No Gods, Past, Sad, Time Skips, Written Letters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-13
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-06-08 01:43:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,762
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6833671
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceNightmary/pseuds/AliceNightmary
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason Grace's father's company created the very first time machine in existence. Being a curious little 10 years old, he snoops into his father's lab when his older sister takes her eyes off of him at a celebratory meeting. He notices a box on the table. A cube with a glowing light in the middle and being the naughty boy he was, he grabs it and stuffs it in his backpack. At home Jason pulls out the cube, not knowing it was the first prototype Time machine before creating the bigger and better version of the it. Again, being curious, he grabs his golden eagle pendant, given to him by his father and touches the machine with it. A short zap blinds Jason for a seconds and the pendant is gone. Excited and confused with what just happened he grabs a pen and a paper and scribbles. He doesn't know what he hopes to accomplish, but maybe that was the fun part of all of this. Once done, he touches the cube with the letter and it vanishes. </p><p>Percy Jackson, an 11 years old boy from a terrible family who doesn't get daily allowances so he could at least eat something, gets daily beatings. While laying in bed one day a letter falls onto his face and the first thing he reads is..</p><p>"If you're reading this..."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Grace Labs

**Author's Note:**

> So this is another story! I should be sleeping, but who needs sleep when you can write fanfictions!  
> So I wrote a couple of Nico and Percy stories this past week and decided, hey, You're writing a series for Nico and Percy. Jason needs some love too!  
> So here you go, enjoy a Jercy fic.

Jason Grace was bored.

Everyone around him was older than he was, not many kids there were his age. At least his older sister, Thalia had friends. She had ditched him at the dumb celebratory party when she had spotted a couple of her girl club friends. Meany, now what was he supposed to do? Watch his father and the people who worked under get all the attention and glory? Well, not like Jason did anything, he was only 10 years old. He didn't know how to invent things yet, nor he did know what to invent that wasn't already invented. His father on the other hand and his team made great things. 

Grace Labs saved the world, yet again. It's not that Jason wasn't grateful of what his father had done, but he wished for even better things. His father had ended World Hunger by creating a machine that synthesized food from energy inside it. By saying what you wanted, the machine would create the food and no wildlife, no plants, no minerals and no whatever else that was supposed to be in food were used and wasted. Hermes, one of his father's inventors, had created housing for the homeless. It was a tiny cube that you pressed and threw onto the ground and _tadaa_ , a small house that had one bedroom, one bathroom, one kitchen, and one living room already furnished so that anyone could live in comfort. Best part? It was free as long as you were homeless and it came with a Food Synthesizer so that they wouldn't be hungry anymore too. What a Saint. They also had created these military-like robots that patrolled the streets. Apollo, another scientist, had claimed it would reduce random police shootings, reduce the crime rates within the State of New York and hopefully the world, and the robots wouldn't harm anyone because they weren't racists. They wouldn't discriminate other people. They just did their jobs, which were to keep the cities safe. And they did, the first month they were employed, the crime rates went below 30 percent. The guns for the police were replaced by certain guns that only fired when an A.I. in the police car allowed them to. Grace Labs had so many machines that were for the people. The things created were created with the thought of 'How can we make our world a better place? How can we take care of these people?'

And that's why there was a celebration today. Jupiter Grace and his team, Hermes, Apollo, Athena, and Iris were being praised for their new invention that could literally change the future of everything, but because they don't want to play god, they just want to send some researchers back in time and observe how the world came to be for what it was. To document everything, to give the next generation of children a chance to learn history close up instead of reading it from their text books. 

_Booooooooring._

Why did they have to create boring things to do boring things. Jason would rather have created something like a space jet that can go super fast in space. Like those kind of ships in Star Trek! He loved Star Trek! He hoped to travel the stars one day. Pass the moon, pass Pluto, and get out of the Milky Way Galaxy and into a new Galaxy! But, no. Some people just wanted to ruin this planet and his father's company had to create things to make it better and better and better. What if they focused outside the planet? What if they could leave this planet? Jason didn't want to continue to keep breathing fake air. He didn't want to eat delicious food created by a machine that was always perfect. He didn't want to grow up in a boring world with boring people keeping their heads down thinking they were happy. Jason wanted to go beyond everything. He wanted to reach beyond the fake clouded sky.

He didn't want to be trapped in a box.

"You could at least smile, you know? You're being a big grumpy baby that's what you're being."

"Shut up, Pipes.. I know you hate these things too." Grumbled Jason under his breath.

He looked to his right and saw his playmate, Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite and Tristan McLean. Two famous actors who always played as lovers in every movie they were in together. When they had gotten married 12 years ago, they refused to play in roles where they had to have someone else pretend to be their lover. It was together or not at all. Then Piper was born and they decided to act in movies or tv series with family roles. Little Piper had her life made for her the moment she was born. And just like Jason, she despised her childhood.

"At least I act like I enjoy it. It makes my parents very happy." She stopped and leaned on Jason's shoulder, the two were the same height so it was a bit perfect. Her dyed blond hair to match her mother's elegant strands some how didn't clash with her natural caramel skin tone. She was a very cute child, but only Jason knew the real side of her. The side where she doesn't have to keep smiling in fear of the paparazzi stalking her every move, the side where she doesn't have to wear cute frilly clothes so that camera can always catch the good side of her. The side where she wore baggy shirts and jeans, and liked to play in the dirt.

It's one of the reasons she was great friends with him. Hera, his mother, and Aphrodite had been friends since college, they both married around the same time and Jason and Piper had been born around the same time as well. The two were playmates and when they were together it was the only time she was allowed to be herself. Of course, the media portrays them as some kind of young love. Stupid, Piper was his best friend. And he was 10 for heaven's sake! He wasn't thinking about marrying anybody just yet. Why couldn't people just keep idiotic notions to themselves?

"I don't want to pretend to enjoy myself if I'm not enjoying myself, Pipes. Don't you have any camera crews to bond with so they can keep away from you?" Jason crossed his arms.

There was a bright flash, making Jason flinch. As he rubbed his eyes he heard the fake melodic laugh beside him. "Oh, Jason. The cameras aren't interested in me today, it's your father and that amazing invention of his!" Her voice was loud and her words precise like she was acting in one her movies. Jason blinked and looked in front of him, a photographer and another man with a video camera was taking pictures and filming them. Jason grit his teeth and was about to bark at them until Piper held his hand tightly.

"Just grin and bear with it, Jase.. It's not like we can do anything right now. So just grin and bear.." Piper spoke softly with a smiling face as she waved at the cameras.

"I want to be normal.. No, not normal. I want be great.. A-"

Piper interrupted him. "Well, what do you want to be, normal or great?"

"Shut up, I'm trying to have a mono.. moni... Those things villians talk about that give time for heroes to kick their buts!" He pouted while Piper just snickered and held his arm. 

"Yes, you've spoke about it a lot. You're gonna get out of this planet and see the stars. You're going to another galaxy and find a healthy planet to live on while everyone stays in their tiny little boxes." She took a glass of apple juice from the table of food behind them.

"You bet I am.. You could come with me, it will be fun. You wouldn't have to wear stupid dresses anymore." Jason had reached for the grape juice instead.

There was a pause and he turned to look at her. Longing in her eyes to run away, it was a normal look on her face nowadays. She shook her head. "I can't"

"Why not?!"

"You know why, Jason. It's just some idea, an imagination, that you have, but it's never going to happen."

"What makes you say that? It's so going to happen! I have everything planned!"

"Jason, think about it. Where will you go? It's not like in the movies where you have warp speed, you said you don't want to be trapped in a box, but that's exactly what it will be in your imaginary spaceship! You'll travel far and far until you die!"

They both were panting as they stopped yelling at each other. Deep inside, though, Jason knew she was right. He didn't know how to create a warp drive, he didn't even understand the concept of it, he was 10 for dumb sake! But he really wanted it. To leave. To get out of this place, there had to be some way. He felt a soft touch on his cheek and he looked at her, looked into Piper's eyes.

"It's okay, as long as you know you're suffering. You're so lucky, Jason.. You don't have to 'act' like you love this life. But.." She pulled away and smiled, her real smile, not a stiff fake one. "I'll hold you to your offer. Come and whisk me away, like a prince in my bed time story books."

Jason snorted and bowed. "I'm gonna walk around for a bit. Maybe there's some interesting stuff to do in my dad's lab. See you later, Pipes." He stepped away from her and headed out the door.

"As long as you don't get in trouble, Jase" She drawled and waved after him.

Jason opened the twin doors and took a deep breath as he left the annoying party. Strawberry. He hated strawberries. He hated fake strawberries anyway. The 'Fresh' air machine they had took dirty polluted air from the outside and pumped clean air inside. There were different flavors that came with it of course. Why they just couldn't breath non-flavored air instead of flavored ones, he didn't know, but he didn't have a say in it. He was only a kid after all. He guessed adults just like smelling fruits.

He walked across the long hallway and then down some stairs, remembering where the Grace lab rooms were. Grace Labs was one of the companies his father owned, of course, and it was a building with rooms just for inventing and creating robots, machines in homes for a better and easier way of living. Security in the streets brought down crime by 90 percent now. All in all, it was because of his father that people in the world can live comfortably. Everything about his father was great, and maybe that's what made Jason hurt just a little bit inside. Even if Piper didn't want it, she at least had a future set for her. He had nothing. A company? What was he going to do with his father's company in the future? He didn't want to stay at a boring desk job doing boring things. He didn't want to be trapped, not knowing what to do and how to change it because he wasn't smart enough.

A bright flash stopped Jason in his tracks. One of the lab rooms was glowing brightly in front of him. If this was a horror movie, he would probably die if he opened those doors, but what was in that room? What bright thing was calling to him. Something stupid made him walk into the horrifying glowing room. As he opened the doors, the glowing light dimmed down into a soft shine. He could see what the light was now. It was a small cube. A clear crystal like cube that was about the size of his head. He slowly crept up to it, trying to figure out what it was, he looked at a label below the cube.

"Proto...type time machine?" He whispered softly as he picked up the cube. How could this thing be a time machine? It was a box, a dumb looking box. God, he hated boxes more than flavored air. The bigger time machines were more of a circle shape and big enough to get inside. What could another tiny box do? He couldn't even get inside it. 

A loud bang made him jump and he looked outside the windows. Fireworks were being shot into the air and exploding into different colors in the dark night sky. He held onto the cube and dashed out the door. Even if the box looked dumb he was still interested in wondering how it was an actual time machine. He ran into his father's office and grabbed his school backpack that was in the corner of the room and stuffed the cube inside it. It wasn't as heavy as Jason thought it would be when he saw it. It was actually pretty light as if it was made from nothing at all. 

"Jason there you are! You know how mad dad is right now?!" A shrill voice made him flinch as he turned around. He had left the door open and his sister, Thalia, had rushed it. It was a good thing he had hid the cube in his bag before she came.

"Sorry.. It's just so boring and I wanted to look around." He put his bag down and walked towards her.

She sighed. "I know, but it's only for a couple more hours.. You can handle just a couple more hours right?

"If I don't die of boredom I might.."

His sister laughed at his remark and she took his hand gently and walked along side him. "Don't worry, I just saw four people carrying one large cake! The frosting looked soft and yummy! I think the cake is chocolate and raspberry filling! Come on!" She pulled towards the party room. "Nothing can stop us from eating at least four or five slices!"

"Hmm... Cake sounds good" Jason smiled brightly and tried to hurry along side her. He could play with the cube at home, after eating lots of cake of course.

At least that was something he didn't hate.


	2. Percy's Broken Home

Percy Jackson was what you would have called a 'Lost Cause'. He came from a broken home. Literally. All of the windows in his apartment were either cracked with holes or just cracked, but still whole. His only family was his foster family who couldn't give two shits about him. How they were able to adopt, Percy didn't know. There was his 'father' Gabe Ugliano and his 'mother' Sarah Ugliano. Both were short, fat, and mean ol' bastards. Ugliano was a perfect last name for the two because they sure were **ugly**.

That was not the best way to introduce himself, honestly. Percy wasn't a bully, nor did he make fun of others for the way they looked. If they liked that extra serving of bacon and eggs in the morning, go for it. If girls his age ( Or guys. ) liked wearing bright red lipstick because they thought it made them look beautiful and definitely not like circus clowns, good for them. Whatever makes them happy, right? Who was he to judge?

But his parents? Good, lord! They barely fed him and he had to watch them every morning as they packed away more bacon in their bodies while Percy ate two pieces of bread. If they were in a good mood that morning, he could get toasted bread. And if they were in a really, really good mood! Whoaaa he could get butter toasted bread!

He was not a happy person when he was hungry.

And this morning was not one of those mornings in which the Uglianos were happy. 

Percy had woke up on a Saturday morning with a sad groan. You'd think him being eleven years old would love Weekend mornings. Watching cartoons, eating frosted flakes, and not having to worry about homework till Sunday night. But that isn't Percy's life. Percy's Weekend mornings would consist of chores. Weed pulling, washing dishes piled higher than his height, making breakfast for the Porkers before they woke up, and then eating said breakfast. Huh, if he didn't know any better he'd say his life was almost the same as that character from that best selling author about Witches and Wizards. At least he didn't live under the staircase. 

Nah, the staircase would be a blessing.

Percy got out of his little nest. A scratchy, itchy blanket and a small throw pillow. The attic was his room, not the greatest, but he did have his privacy. Though, it was more of an upstairs closet than an attic. He raised his arms and stretched a bit before looking out the tiny round window which was the size of his head. It was pouring out and that wasn't a good sign. Not for him at least. It was going to be miserable pulling out the weeds out on the balcony. He walked towards the door and walked out. "Better start on the weeds." He told himself.

The apartment was still dark inside. Made sense since it was about 4 AM, so his parents were still asleep. He walked as quietly as he could as to not wake them. Last week when he was going to do his chores, he woke up Sarah and she threw a fit and Gabe woke up from her screeching. Percy could barely move that day, but he still had to finish his chores. How fun.

Percy sighed in relief and went to the kitchen to pull out two trash bags. He made three holes in one of them. One hole on the bottom of the bag and two on the sides. He pulled the bag from the opening over his head and made a make-shift raincoat. Percy nodded happily to himself for thinking about it. Maybe he wasn't so stupid after all. His happy mood turned sour when he forgot that even though his clothes would stay dry, his head would still get fairly wet from the rain. He frowned when he went to the small little garden in their 'yard'. Why yard? It wasn't a yard. It was a stupid balcony with a few large garden pots filled with dead plants which Sarah claimed were healthy. Puh-lease.

If the plants were healthy then he was well fed.

Lost in thought, Percy didn't realize he had also pulled out Sarah's precious carrots along side the weeds. "Ah, no!" He grumbled and looked down at the work he did. "Well.. I guess I can fix it later. I really have to hurry up though. I'll do it after I do the dishes, They won't be awake for at least a couple o' hours. Yeah, I have time to fix it." He continued to pull out the rest of the unwanted plants, but froze when he felt his stomach growl. "Ugh.. Can't you just wait a bit. I'll ask Sarah if I can have bread and butter today. Just wait a bit!" He sniffed.

Anger that filled his mind prevented him from thinking straight while doing his job as did hunger. Once done pulling only the weeds this time, he went back into the kitchen to start on the dishes. Not noticing the puddle that was forming on the floor. His stomach made that noise again and distracted him, but he tried to be patient. He'd rather eat a late breakfast since he wasn't allowed to eat lunch at home. That didn't stop him from whining a bit though.

Percy griped when he felt his arms getting tired from all the scrubbing. Mumbling about how unfair it was and why did he have to be the one to clean a week worth of dishes every week? Maybe he should cut back on using so many dishes to cook, but he had to cater to their cravings and sometimes that forced him to use quite a few dishes. He shook his head, now was not the time to be thinking about food. He had to make sure everything was done before 7 O'clock. 

Almost done with the high pile, he began to put the just clean ones away. Walking towards the dish rack with 4 plates in his hand, he slipped. He hadn't really considered the possibility of water dripping down from his make shift raincoat and falling on his ass. Thank god he didn't break his neck, but what came next made him wish he did. The plates he had been holding slipped out of his hand as his human reflexes forced him to drop them in order to reach out for something to keep him from falling. He didn't find anything to hold onto, so his butt hurt and the plates fell with a loud shatter.

Now this was why this morning wasn't a happy one for the Uglianos.

Percy was doing his best to clean the broken mess up, but Gabe and Sarah ran into the kitchen and Percy had no chance of defending himself.

"What the hell was that noi- Little shit! Did you break my plates?!" Sarah gasped in horror.

"I.. Didn't me-" Percy stammered.

"What?! Fuck, that costs money! And what, did you break them out of rage?!" Gabe grabbed Percy's collar, lifting him up a bit off the floor. "And the fuck is this garbage bag you're wearing. What's up with that?!"

"Well.. Raining.... an-"

"My vegetables!" Both heard a shrilling voice from the balcony.

Percy swallowed hard. He was planning on fixing that before they awoke, but guess not. He looked up at Gabe and he looked extremely pissed off right now. Percy just kept his mouth shut. Nothing was going to save him from this anyway. He shut his eyes tight when he saw Gabe raised his fist in the air and swung down at him. Percy gagged a bit as he felt the wind knocked out of his lungs from the gut punch. Gabe let him go and started kicking his stomach as hard as that man could. "Little, fucker!" He swore.

Percy cried out in pain, trying so badly to get up. He wanted to run, but Gabe just continued to beat him. "I'm s- Ah! Sorry! Ugh!. Please! I wo- Ah! I won't do it again!" He sobbed and tried to curl into a ball to protect his stomach. Gabe stopped and began to throw punches again. "Why. Can't. You. Learn. To. Behave!" Gabe growled with each blow. 

Percy grit his teeth and closed his eyes again. Tears were streaming down his face and he couldn't stop it. It hurt. He squeaked a bit when he felt Gabe grabbed his shirt again. He trembled at his sinister smile. "If you want to look like a bag of garbage you might as well be in the garbage!" He lifted the boy higher and walked towards the balcony where their large trash bin was. Percy tried to struggle out of the fat man's grip but to no avail. He flinched at the sound of the loud thunder and gasped. Gabe had opened the garbage bin and practically threw the boy inside. Percy tried to stand to get out, but Gabe slammed the lid shut and Percy heard a loud thud. He lifted his arms to push the lid off, but he couldn't lift it. Something heavy must have been on it. Percy grimaced. The smell finally hit him and Percy was going to faint.

The garage man was supposed to come tomorrow so the bin was filled with a week worth of gross stuff. Percy's eyes watered from the pain and smell. The more he tried to push the lid open, the more he felt his body ache from the beating. The smell was unbearable and so was the pain. Percy dropped down, gagging from the horrible squishy feeling of wet food beneath him. He was tired. He had given up.

Percy closed his eyes and exhaustion took over him.

He fell into a less peaceful sleep.

 

**[ . . . ]**

 

 

When Percy woke up, he wasn't sure if it was still morning, afternoon, or night time. All he knew was that it still stunk in the bin. He reached out weakly to push open the lid again. It moved. His lips twitched  into a frail smile. He staggered out and grabbed out onto the balcony rail as that seemed to be the only thing  close enough to reach out for. He pulled himself out of the bin and took a deep breath. Fresh air, or fresher than garbage at least. "Whew.." He looked around.

He couldn't see the sun, but it was still cloudy and dark. Rain was pouring harder than ever. Percy sniffed and walked back into the apartment room. It was dark inside the home as well. Also quiet. The Uglianos must have left him alone. Though, why did Gabe let him go? Maybe it was best to not question what little Kindness that Gabe had and be very appreciative that he was free. He walked into the bathroom and stripped himself free from the dirty pajamas. Putting them in the hamper, he then stepped into the shower and turned the water one. He jumped. The water was cold! Gabe must have not paid the water and electricity bills this month.

Percy tried to take a quick and clean shower. He didn't want to be under the freezing water any longer than he had to.

Once done, he walked out of the bathroom. "Darn, I forgot my towel.." Percy shook his head and walked back up towards the attic naked. He would clean up the trails of water droplets later. Opening the door, he shivered. It was cold up here. He bolted towards the itchy blanket and wrapped himself all burrito like and smiled a bit. Sure it was a bit uncomfortable, but he felt at peace. Even if it was a false sense a peace, it was better than nothing. 

He closed his eyes and tried to make himself a bit comfortable. The air around him felt a bit to chilly for him to unwrap himself. His breath was even foggy as well. He pouted as he curled even more.

There was a loud buzzing sound and something fell onto his face. He winced and glared. "The heck?" He sat up and unwillingly pulled his arms out of the blanket. He looked at item that hit his nose and tilted his head. "What... is this?" He examined it and gasped. It was really shiny eagle mark on an oval necklace and looked to be made of gold, but it couldn't be. A golden eagle pendant. Where did it come from? No way in hell did Gabe and Sarah own anything this expensive looking. He noticed the latch on the side of the oval and undid it. Opening it startled him as a picture somehow hovered above it. 

He had never seen anything like it. What was it? There was a shining light coming from the middle of the pendant, showing a large picture of a small boy. A boy with blond hair and blue eyes. A happy boy with blond hair and blue eyes. Percy smiled again as he stared at it. It must have belonged to the previous owners of this place. But he had never seen anything like this. A floating picture? It reminded him of The Little Mermaid when Ariel showed Melody Atlantis. "Pretty.."

Another loud buzz filled the soft silence and Percy looked up again, a parcel hitting his face just like the necklace. "Ow." There was a crystal like cube hovering a couple of feet above his head. It was as as big as his hand. How did he not notice that? Course without thinking he reached up and grabbed it. "Huh." Nothing happened as he pulled it down. He walked over towards his 'table' which was nothing more than a cardboard box. He set it down on it. "What are you? Did this gold thing come from you too?" Percy whispered in awe.

Remembering the parcel he walked back to his bed and picked up the small package. He unwrapped it and found a piece of folded paper. He opened that up and saw that it was a letter. Inhaling a bit, he spoke what he read.

 

" If you're reading this."

**Author's Note:**

> Yayyyy, so what do you think? Not a really sad beginning like most of my stories! No tears yet or any ' Wow this author is so messed up. What is wrong with her?"   
> Maybe soon though.   
> Hope you like it! Comments are loved here, whether harsh or kind, I love em!  
> And I love you guys! Thanks for reading my stories.  
> Until next time!~


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